What is the Best Blogging Platform for an Online Business

“What is the Best Blogging Platform for an Online Business” written by Mike Marko.

Blogging is one of the best forms of content marketing a business can use. A blog can help build your brand, help you get leads, and ultimately get sales. But ultimately your success is tied to the blogging platform you use.

There are many free and affordable blogging platforms, but for an online business you need to consider your long-term goals before you dive in and start your blog. Your blog platform is an important early on decision you need to make to make sure you use one that will meet those long term objectives.

So the objective of this blog post is to review some of the more popular blogging platforms for online businesses. We’ll answer the question, “what is the best blogging platform for an online business.”

WordPress

WordPress is probably the most common blogging platform. You need to understand that with WordPress that there are two “versions” to choose from. Both have the same blogging feature, but the two key differences are hosting and features.

WorPress.com (WordPress-Hosted)

This is the free hosting for WordPress and is located on WordPress.com. That means you can start using it right away without having to worry about where to store your website. All you have to do is create your free blog, add some pages to turn it into a website, and start blogging.

WordPress.com Pros

It’s easy to use.

WordPress handles the hosting (so no hosting costs, and the associate headaches).

You can create a blog and website quickly and easily.

There are upgrades available to help scale up your blog. These run from $500 per month for Enterprise to $3,750 per month for VIP.

WordPress.com Cons

Functionality is limited unless you pay for upgrades. This includes fees for using your own domain name, custom themes, plugins, and more.

Your site may display ads from WordPress. This could negatively affect the customer about your site. Plus this is price space YOU should be using to promote your own products and/or services.

If you have complaints about your blog you can have it shut down. This has been the case when people use the blog to blatantly promote their products.

WordPress.org (Self-Hosted via a Third-Party Host)

For this you download the WordPress application and upload it to your own web hosting account. Many web hosts offer one-click installation of WordPress, making it easier to start your online business blog.

With WordPress.org you’ll get complete control over your website. The WordPress application is always free, you just pay for the hosting (and most themes, or different overall site look, cost extra as well). There is a huge advantage using WordPress.org over WordPress.com.

WordPress.org Pros

You get complete control over your online business blog and website.

You have complete customization control of the website.

You can add plugins to give you even more features and tools.

There is a huge online community of experts that can help you and answer your questions anytime.

You control the content on your page. You don’t have to worry about shut down for advertising your online products.

WordPerss.org Cons

Having to manage a third-part hosting account can require a bit of technical knowledge. It isn’t as bad as you might think. There are plenty of tutorials and online support that can help you.

You need to monitor the site security and keep backing up daily because the site will be vulnerable to security threats.

You are the only one to call on to make sure the site is working at all times.

Recommendation

WordPress.org is a great application for online businesses. WordPress.com is not recommended for businesses.

Blogger

Blogger is owned by Google. This means that it has been seamlessly integrated with Google tools like Analytics, Google+, AdSense, etc. Blogger is easy to use, and it is free. You can customize it to a degree, but not to the same degree as WordPress.org.

The Blogger post editor is simple and easy to use.

Blogger Pros

Blogger is free.

It’s easy to use.

Blogger Cons

There is no way to categorize blog posts.

You are at the mercy of what the current version of Blogger. What you can do is dependent on the current offering of Blogger.

If you have complaints about your blog you can have it shut down. This has been the case when people use the blog to blatantly promote their products.

Recommendation

Blogger is not recommended if you are looking for a business blog and website. It is best used as a hobby or personal blog.

Influx Entrepreneur Marketing System

The Influx Entrepreneur Marketing System is a blogging network. It is WordPress based, but it is already hosted. It has the advantages of WordPress.org, WordPress.com and Blogger all rolled into one. Plus it can be converted into a Membership site at a later time if you want to pay the additional fee.

Influx Entrepreneur Pros

It’s easy to use.

Influx Entrepreneur handles the hosting (so no hosting costs, and the associate headaches).

You can create a blog and website quickly and easily.

You get complete control over your online business blog and website.

You have complete customization control of the website.

There is a huge online community of experts that can help you and answer your questions anytime.

You have complete control over the ad space.

It starts off already ranking in Google because your blog is part of a blog network.

Influx Entrepreneur Cons

It costs $500 for setup then $9/month afterwards… including the self-hosting… ok, given that this blogging platform includes so much this should be an advantage but we needed at least one disadvantage.

Recommendation

If you are serious about your business, or you just want to make sure people can find your blog posts in Google, then the Influx Entrepreneur Marketing System is the way to go.

VIDEO: What is the Best Blogging Platform

Bottom Line on What is the Best Blogging Platform

Ultimately you should choose a blogging platform that won’t require you to hire a web developer to design and maintain your blog over the long-term. However, you also need to choose a tool that gives you the features, control, and customization that you need to build the brand of your business.

So what is the final answer on what is the best blogging platform for an online business?

When you look at all factors, I highly recommend spending the $9/month for the Influx Entrepreneur Blogging System. It is the best of all worlds plus gives you the ability to rank easier on Google. Bren and I personally used this blogging platform to rank in #1 place on Google for IPAS2 Review during these first few months during the IPAS 2 product launch.

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